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This issue of Take Control offers a straightforward take on the much-talked-about topic of prescription medication. So sit down with your glass of milk or full stomach and get ready to ingest some information that will alleviate your health care aches and clear up your benefits symptoms. Warning this newsletter could be helpful to your health!
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Going Generic
Encouraging employees to use generic drugs is an excellent strategy to curb rising health care costs without depriving your employees of health plan benefits. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a generic drug is a copy that is the same as a brand-name drug in dosage, safety, strength, how it is taken, quality, performance and intended use. The valuable difference between generic and brand name drugs is that on average, a generic drug costs about 60% less.
Here are five methods and incentives you can employ to make generic drugs a steadfast component of your organization’s prescription drug plan.
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Taking Medication Responsibly
Educating yourself about the proper use of medications is an essential component of living a healthy lifestyle. According to a report from the Center for Health Care Strategies, only 50% of patients take medications as directed. Here are some helpful tips about how to make sure you are following the rules.
As a plan sponsor, it is a good strategy to monitor your employees’ intake of abused drugs such as painkillers, which are highly addictive. Ensuring a price cap and implementing a medical necessity process can serve as techniques to control the misuse of prescriptions.
This list represents of the most highly abused drugs:
- Actiq
- Duragesic patch
- Oxycontin
- Percocet
- Levo-Dromoroa
- Adderall
- CONCERTA
- Dexedrine
- Focalin XR
- Metadate CD
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When confronted with an issue such as depression, stress, or anxiety, most people visit their primary care physician instead of a mental health specialist for treatment. They usually receive a prescription for an antidepressant as their only course of treatment. Aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies serves to persuade both consumers and physicians that a pill is the solution. To compound the problem, employers often try to control mental health costs by limiting benefits for treatment of mental health diagnoses. This strategy results in cost shifting to prescription drugs and medical claims.
To address the growing use and cost of prescriptions from primary care physicians as the sole treatment for mental health issues, JI’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) partner, Interface EAP, has developed the Pharmacy Intervention Protocol (PIP) patent pending to identify those receiving specific medications and motivate appropriate care so that their issues are treated instead of simply medicating their symptoms. The goal of the program is to improve the condition of each participant, leading to a reduction in the cost of prescription drugs, a long-term decrease in the utilization of other medical services, and increased productivity. Read more
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